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Wednesday, January 09, 2008

No Dice

Apparently my mention of the Knitting Gnomes made them disappear and, sadly, the Baby Surprise Jacket did not get finished last night, nor did I get to watch my movie (I think the nearly hour-long phone call with my best friend and watching the election returns may have had something to do with it as well). A few more rows to knit and a wee bit of finishing await me tonight.

I did manage to finish my Noro socks today, yet another fraternal pair:

I've got to be honest with you, folks. I am not impressed with this yarn. The only thing that I like about my experience knitting with it was the color and its subtle changes. The actual knitting experience was not what you'd call pleasurable. First of all, this yarn is rough. As in gave me calluses rough. It's also a singles yarn, so there were fuzzy thick bits near every color transition, and it constantly twisted up on itself. I was also not very pleased to encounter two knots in the skein while knitting the second sock alone; it's because of the second knot that the second sock I knit is actually two rows shorter than the first (I did not want to have to weave in two more ends right at the end of the toe). I know that three knots are the so-called industry standard, but I've only ever encountered one in a skein before. There's still a full third of this skein left, so who knows how many more knots might still be inside.

If I had to pick a word other than rough to decribe this yarn, I'd probably call it sticky -- as in it sticks to itself. This might be good if you're knitting a colorwork sweater with steeks, but for a sock, not so much. The stitches in the knit fabric are not even; there are even places that look like holes or ladders where the stitches decided to stretch out in the middle. The socks are soaking in a sink full of lukewarm water right now, so it remains to be seen whether the fabric will even out.

I'm afraid that I can't give a full review of this yarn until I've worn the socks a few times and can tell you how it holds up, but I promise to do so when I'm able to. In the meantime, I can convincingly say that I am not in any rush to run out and buy more of this sock yarn, or any other Noro yarn, for that matter. I'm going to thank my fingertips for putting up with me during these socks by finally knitting with my Jitterbug. Can you guess what pattern I'm returning to once again?

yeah. I'm really not in a rush to buy this yarn, even though Bloomin Yarns carries it. My reasoning is that I'm a TIGHT knitter and that won't play so nicely with a singles yarn that goes as thin as the Noro sock yarn. Plus, I have too much nice soft awesome sock yarn in my stash to want to jump right in with scratchy wool. Oh well. More for other shiny things. Like a second sock club. What was I thinking??!!?!!? (qpaymy ... two words in one verification!)

Thanks for the heads-up! I've been thinking about doing a chevron with mine, and your post is really encouraging me in that direction. I never knew that there was an industry standard regarding knots, that's fascinating!

I am currently knitting with the Noro sock yarn and hoping that the rough bits will soften out after washing (please say they do!) I love the colors and have used other Noro yarn to knit and felt bags which turned out great. The colors are awesome.

See now I am currently knitting socks with my Noro Sock Yarn and do love it. THe colors are luscious! I would recommend using a ball winder first to anyone rather than straight from the pull skein. It is skeined very tight and the color changes came out in a blob. Now if you knit like gangbusters it would probably be a pain, but for me, a putzer, not so much. Trekking wound back on itself when I used it and so did Opal, so I think just the nature of sock yarn is to be wound so tight. But I am a NORO lover and that might be the difference in whether you love it or like it or hate it.